Monday, 6 June 2016

Japan Candy Box Review and Giveaway

Happy Monday Littlest Sweet Shoppers!
Today we are doing a review on a subscription service called Japan Candy Box in the Littlest Sweet Shop.

Japan Candy Box is a monthly subscription that you can subscribe to from anywhere in the world. Each box includes 10 various Japanese sweets and snacks, some even only exclusive to Japan!

We had a Japanese family living next door when I was growing up so Japanese food, snacks (and even culture) was always something I am familiar with. However now that I'm living in a remote English countryside, it is practically impossible to buy any Japanese food.

Since Japan Candy Box includes free delivery to your doorsteps - including remote English rural areas - almost anyone can experience the joy of kawaii food. The best part? Every month you get a different mix of items so you can experience a whole load of Japanese sweets and snacks.

I received my box for March 2016, and please note, unlike all the miniature food from Littlest Sweet Shop - THESE ARE REAL and for human consumption. I was so delighted to receive the box so quickly since it took only 2 weeks to arrive.

So what did they include in the March box?

Japan Candy Box March 2016 edition

Kabaya Karipori Candy Sticks

Fujiya Milky Peko X Sanrio Chocolates

Kracie Sea Animals DIY Gummy Kit

Bourbon Petit Grilled Pizza Rice Crackers

Calbee Sapporo Potato Vegetables Snacks

Meiji Mushroom Mountain Chocolate Cookies

Meiji Mini Grape Gummies

Coris Cola & Soda Soft Candy

Hi-Chew Chewy Candy - Cola flavour

Kasugai 100% Fruit Juice Gummies

Kabaya Karipori Candy Sticks

There are two flavours in this box, grape soda and Cola (Or Koo-ra as they say in Japanese)
Each 2 sticks are individually wrapped since they are essentially popping candy so you don't want moisture to ruin it.
I've never had candy in this form before but it was pleasantly flavoured, especially the Cola and if you chew on it you get the 'popping candy' effect. If you don't chew on it, you can also take a small piece in your mouth to savour the flavours and enjoy the fizziness.Fujiya Milky Peko X Sanrio Chocolates

Kawaii Sanrio characters moulded chocolate

If you follow me on Flickr, you can see most of my shopping purchases including toys, fashion (Japanese clothes) and candy. I am a HUGE fan of Milky sweets and they always seem to do some collaboration with My Melody or Sanrio.
I was so happy that they included a Milky candy that I have never had before. As a bonus, it was moulded into kawaii Sanrio characters!
The confectionery consists of strawberry and milk chocolate. Even my husband said the packaging is cute (and he's not into cute things) and the sweets tasted really nice, unlike that sickly sweet chocolate you get here in the UK.

My favourite was of course the one that was shaped like My Melody.Kracie Sea Animals DIY Gummy Kit

I made all of that gummies!

This is my second Kracie DIY candy product plus I also have another 2 kits stashed away (I will do a review on that very soon!). My surprise with Kracie kits is that I never knew something gimmicky could actually taste really nice.
With this kit it took less then 30 minutes to produce 2 sets of gummy candy (dolphin, fish, star-fish etc.) and comes with a small place mat for you to display the sweets.
Since this is a candy kit, you let your creativity go wild during the first stage which is mixing up the 3 coloured powder into the mold. The more you mix, the more colourful and rainbow-like your gummies will turn out!
Like all Kracie sweets, it tasted really good especially when you get a ramune (soda), grape and strawberry flavours mixed up in each gummy.Bourbon Petit Grilled Pizza Rice Crackers

Open up the pizza box to reveal - pizza flavoured rice snacks!

I have to say that this is my favourite item in the whole box. As the founding person of Littlest Sweet Shop, naturally I have a sweet tooth. But this snack was so delicious, I wished I had a huge pack of it! The rice crackers was light and the tomato and cheese flavour was so nice, and not salty. At first I wanted to share some with my husband, but it was too good that I almost scoffed the whole thing in one go! WARNING - Extremely more-ish!Calbee Sapporo Potato Vegetables Snacks

Calbee in the UK is known to produce healthy snacking alternatives to crisps. This crispy Calbee snack is also a healthy option as it is a very light snack and contains vegetables. The potato base of the snack is very tasty even though it's not heavily laden with salt. The shape reminds me of the prawn cracker snacks I had growing up, but healther and less salty.Meiji Mushroom Mountain Chocolate Cookies

This mushroom is basically made up from a crispy biscuit base for the mushroom 'stalk' and the top is made from signature Meiji chocolate confectionery. Meiji's chocolate is never too sweet and goes really well with the crispy biscuit. I would say the ratio of chocolate to biscuit is perfect as well. I love the 'kinoko' shape which makes a this type of Japanese snacks really cute and fun to eatMeiji Mini Grape Gummies

These mini grape gummies have one of the best grape flavours I've ever tasted! The outer coating is crispy and inside is super juicy and yummy. Took no time scoffing the whole pack. My husband thought it was chewing gum at first as we have never come across a gummy sweet with a crispy shell.Coris Cola & Soda Soft Candy

This long piece of candy or taffy has two layers, the outer is cola flavour with a soda flavour in the core. Extremely yummy when eaten together but since it's quite a long piece, it will take you a while to get through the whole thing!

Hi-Chew Chewy Candy - Cola flavour

My husband doesn't eat as much candy as I do but he sure did like this one. He said the texture was softer than normal taffy and the flavour goes a long way. Each piece is individually wrapped and has a little story written in Hiragana Japanese writing. My Japanese is probably the same level as a 5 year old Japanese person so I love all this little details on the packaging to help me learn.

Kasugai 100% Fruit Juice Gummies

In my box I received the apple variant and was surprised that it wasn't too tart/sour. I'm not usually a fan of apple flavoured sweets but this one has a pleasant taste and since it's made from 100% fruit juice, I guess it's also part of your daily fruit diet? Lol

They are quite soft and almost melts in your mouth.

Fancy winning a box of Japanese Candy for yourself? Enter here! (open to all Littlest Sweet Shoppers worldwide). You can also subscribe to Japan Candy Box directly by visiting their website at http://www.japancandybox.com/

6 comments:

These do look very good! We host a high school student from Japan every year for a week in March as part of a program sponsored at our high school by the Japanese teacher. We always get a big stash of sweets and packaged Japanese food (like Miso soup) as a gift from the student.